Stranger Things Have Happened
by Sharkwoman
Summary: Artie wasn't sure what he was expecting tonight, but being carried bridal-style to her bed wasn't one of them. Spoilers for "Duets". Will have three parts to it, multiple POV.
1. The Night Of

So I saw one of the newest promos for tonight's episode, "Duets", and as much as I love Tartie, I thought the upcoming Bartie scene looked both hilarious and adorable. So this idea of a drabblet just popped into my head and here it is. Obviously, this all completely speculatory based on a less than three-second shot of Artie making out with Brit. So if tonight's ep turns out to give a completely different context to it, then consider this AU after it airs. :P

Disclaimer: Don't own Glee. If I did, Artie would have as many solos as Rachel.

* * *

Artie never thought he'd find himself in a cheerleader's bedroom, much less _making out _with said cheerleader. And if somebody had told him the cheerleader would be none other than the famously clueless Brittany S. Pierce, Artie would've had a stroke from all the laughter.

But here he was. Brittany told him she liked him, and he was a free agent, so it's all good, right? He didn't sneak a glance at _Tina's_ direction when Brittany invited him over that night. He didn't _really_ raise his voice when he told Brittany he'd be there at seven when he saw her walk by.

The night wasn't anything major. Brittany happily babbled on (something about how a tiger and a deer having little baby deegers would mean having some really cute pet kitties, also that she was sure her cat _and_ her three-year-old cousin were now both in on some kind of scheme to read her diary and tell everyone the secrets within), while Artie sort of blanked out. Don't get him wrong, Brittany was amazingly hot but Artie needed to tune her out after a while. God only knows how Santana deals with it.

Then Artie broke out of his trance when he heard "...kissing record."

He blinked. "What?" Brittany smiled vaguely.

"My kissing record. Last year I told Kurt that I'd kissed every guy in the school except him, but I didn't count you because of the whole robot thing. And now that I've realized that you're totally not a robot, there's one more guy I need to getting a perfect record."

Artie widened his eyes. He didn't think they were gonna go this fast. "Brittany, I don't know if you wanna do that."

Brittany stared quizzically at him. "Why not?" Artie struggled for words. "Because I-" _Aaw, screw it_. "Fine, go for it."

"Do you mind if we do it on the bed?" She asked. Artie flushed. Things were definitely going a little far here, but hey, it was just kissing, right? No big deal.

"Um, I guess." He started wheeling himself to the bed, but Brittany seemed to have other plans for him when she slid her hands underneath the seat of his pants. "Woah, what are you doing?" Artie sputtered. Brittany smiled. "I'm gonna take you there, silly." And with that she scooped him out of the chair and held him with impressive strength. After the initial shock, Artie relaxed and smiled a little. Only Brittany.

Still, there were so many things wrong with this picture. Artie was being carried bridal-style by a girl to the bed (there goes his male pride), by _Brittany of all people. Artie was still battling with his feelings for Tina. The whole reason he even agreed to this was to make her jealous! Nobody said anything about a makeout session!_

But as Brittany laid him down gently on the bed and pressed her lips against his, Artie closed his eyes and let everything go. He'll probably regret this whole thing tomorrow, but right now he's sick of regretting.

* * *

Brittany's kissed better.

For a guy who's apparently only kissed one girl, Artie's not too bad but he could seriously use some work. He's kinda awkward, and it's already been ten seconds and he still hasn't tried to touch her boobs.

Still, it's a nice change. Artie's lips don't have that wierd boy-food taste, like most guy's lips do. Like dip or nachos. And his lips are super warm and stuff, and he smells really clean. Kinda like the doctor's office, except more home-y. Whatever that means.

Oh well, he's better than Kurt was, anyway. And he sure doesn't kiss like a robot.

* * *

FIN


	2. The Day After

I absolutely loved "Duets". This felt like a true Glee episode, with just the right amount of character/plot development and a nice balance of character screentime.

Did anybody else's heart shatter in a million pieces for poor Brittany in the beginning, with wanting to sing a duet with Santana only to be shot down? And then later for Artie, with his "We didn't even know if I could _do_ that" line? All I'm hoping for is that the writers completely desert that scene and don't address it until after the next hiatus (a la Stuttergate).

Oh, and "Duets" _did _put a (somewhat) different context to Artie being over at Brittany's, so just consider the first chapter to be AU. The this new chapter will follow what actually happened.

Anyway, enjoy!

* * *

Everything was fuzzy when Artie opened his eyes.

He could barely make out his clothes laying discarded all over the floor. One shoe was sitting at the side of the bed, the other was flung across the room. His chair sat lonely across from the bed. Strangely enough, his glasses were folded up neatly and carefully placed on Brittany's night table.

He reached over for his glasses and blinked as everything gained clarity. With a slight panic, he looked over to his right and saw Brittany was missing. He relaxed when he heard the sound of the shower running in the bathroom next door.

Artie propped himself up, shivering slightly with the cool breeze from the fan above them making contact against his naked skin. His eyes widened. _His naked skin. Naked. As in, not wearing anything._

He'd just had sex with Brittany S. Pierce, one of the top cheerleaders of the school. Scratch that, he'd just had _sex. _Despite all odds against it, there was still that one thing he was capable of doing.

He didn't care that a week ago, he barely knew Brittany. He didn't care that his first time wasn't with someone he truly loved, or that he still had feelings for someone else. None of that mattered. At least, not at the moment.

He felt a huge grin spread across his face. He couldn't believe it. This was amazing, that accident really hadn't taken everything away from him! Being in that chair half his life, he'd all but given up on the idea of losing his V card ever since he was fourteen. If he could've, he would totally start doing that dorky dance Chandler from _Friends_ did.

Artie should've looked more closely at the end of the bedposts and seen the 27 marks scratched upon it. That would've been his first warning sign.

* * *

_"The only thing you can give Brittany that she can't get from someone else is super choice parking"_

From the look on the kid's face, it's as if she punched him. It doesn't bother her, she's seen that same look thousands of times before with a ton of kids she's smacked down in the past.

She flounces off, leaving him to let the information sink in.

It's not like it shouldn't have been obvious to him, anyway. Everyone knows Brittany sleeps with everyone. Hell, half the Cheerios do. It's his own damn fault he didn't see it. Santana snorted to herself. Did he really think he was special enough to be any different?

He needed to get that reality check, anyway. Whatever he and Brittany had would've never lasted, Santana only did them both a favor by cutting it short. And the only reason she did that was because she was getting tired of seeing Brittany throw herself at such a loser. And maybe she was a little jealous too, but that doesn't mean anything.

Maybe she missed the sex, but that's it. Honestly.

And maybe if she repeats that to herself enough times, she'll start to believe it.

* * *

This feels way too familiar.

Turning his back on a girl and roll away from her down a hall in a state of anger and betrayal. Why does this always have to happen?

The best thing that could be said about the whole fiasco was that he finally lost his virginity, but that seems so meaningless after how Brittany didn't even care. This was never about him, it was about her and what _she_ wanted.

It doesn't matter. Artie's tired of girls and their lies. Maybe he should just take a break from them, because he's getting sick of how all his relationships end up the same way.

* * *

All Brittany wanted to do was sing with Santana. Santana didn't want her. So she went to Artie, because he seemed kind of lonely too. Plus he had a really good voice, and maybe it'll make Santana see that she can find someone else who'll actually like her back.

But when Artie got all mad at her, it just made her even more sad. She wasn't really into Artie in the first place, but he was a good friend. And he was really good at making this sad-puppy look on his face that her want to pick him up and stroke him like a puppy. But since she's the reason why he looked so sad in the first place, she doesn't think she can do that.

But it's not like she _knew_ how much sex meant to him. Most guys don't get so emotional and stuff over it, how was she supposed to know Artie would be the exception to that? Most guys don't even remember her last name after they have sex with her, and she's okay with that. She always has been, because sex was never a big deal to her.

_"I know sex doesn't mean anything to you..."_

That really hurt. True, she does have sex enough times with guys that it doesn't feel like much, but she's had sex plenty of times with Santana to know that it _does _mean something to her.

But now it's all screwed up 'cause Artie's mad at her and Santana still doesn't like her back.

She wishes she had her Cheerios doll with her. Squeezing it always made her feel better.

_

* * *

_

Whoo, there is is!

About the 27 scratch marks, the prop masters actually did put those on Brittany's bed. They don't show it during the actually scene, but if you go on hulu or fox videos and watch the BTS on Brittany's room, they're there. ;)

Anyway, I'm think about the next chapter being the last. This wasn't mean to be an incredibly long multi-fic anyway. But this next one will definitely be more imaginative. As in, it won't just reflect on the character's feelings like these last two chapters have.

Anyway, reviews are loff. 3


	3. The Week Later

Ta da!

The final and much overdue chapter to the story. I thought RHGS was a pretty good episode, but it wasn't as good as "Duets". I'm really not liking how Will's being written in regards to Emma, but this isn't the place. Anyway, I'm really starting to warm up to the Carma ship, so maybe a one-shot there? Hmm..

Enjoy!

* * *

"...So anyway, after we had some talk about babies and Jew church, Rachel and I got into some pretty heavy making out and she totally let me touch her boob!" Finn was enthusiastically recounting his tale of sexy time with Rachel while pushing a grinning Artie down the hall.

"Under the shirt?" Artie asked excitedly. Finn's face fell. "No, over the shirt." He perked up. "It's a start, though." He continued pushing the chair until they reached Artie's locker.

While Artie was unloading all the books in his bag into his locker, Finn leaned against the lockers next to him. "Yeah, it's a really good start. I dunno why she's so hesitant to do it with me, though. It's not like she hasn't already done it with Jesse or anything." Artie wrinkled his nose, not wanting to know the details of Rachel Berry's sex life. "It's totally wierd. I guess sex is a big deal to her." Then Finn caught a strange look on Artie's face. It took him a second, then Finn realized what the problem was.

"Dude, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't be talking about all this sex stuff if you're not able to-" Artie cut him off with a dry, humorless laugh. "Finn, don't worry. I'm able, trust me." He stuffed his backpack with his book with a little more force than necessary. Finn blinked. "Wait, you can? H-how do you know?"

Artie sighed. "Last Friday, I went over to Brittany's house to work on our duet project. I was kind of having doubts about being there, especially with Tina and everything, but Brittany said it would help, and..." He let the sentence trail off. Finn's face split with a huge grin. "Dude, are you serious? That's awesome!" He held his hand up for a high five, which Artie returned with zero gusto. Finn frowned. "What's wrong, man? If I were you, I'd be totally stoked! No offense or anything." Artie didn't say anything. "Did she scream out Santana's name or something? Don't be hurt by that, dude, I've heard that's happened kinda frequently lately." At that, Artie's features tightened even more.

"No, it wasn't like that at all." Seeing Finn's confused expression, Artie continued. "I know this won't sound cool or anything, but having sex with Brittany felt like a miracle. Not because of her specifically, but the fact that I could even have sex in the first place was just amazing. It was like a whole new discovery of myself, and getting that feeling of normalcy - I've been looking for that feeling for so long. And then I find out that she only did it because she wanted something from me, and it felt like a huge waste."

Finn didn't know what to say. He knew exactly what Artie meant by "huge waste" with having sex and all, but-

"Dude, it's not exactly a secret that Brittany sleeps with everyone. And it sounded like she suggested having sex in a really casual way, so you didn't really think that it would mean anything big to her, did you?" Finn asked.

"I know, but all I could think about the moment when it was over was how incredibly this all was. If the circumstances were different, and I was just this A.V dork who nobody would ever think would lose his V-card until after graduating college as opposed to an A.V wheelchair-bound dork, then yeah, the way Brittany threw out the sex thing only to crush it later wouldn't be such a big deal to me."

Finn narrowed his eyes and looked around in his typical Finn-in-deep-thought way. "I'm not really good at this whole deep-talk stuff or anything, but here's what I think." He bit his lip. "Artie, I get why losing your V-card would be such a big deal to you, I totally understand you there man. And I've always thought it was cool how you wouldn't let your disability affect how you are with people, but it kinda sounds like you're going back on that and letting your disability guilt trip other people." Artie opened his mouth to protest but Finn continued on. "I don't think you're doing that on purpose, but Brittany isn't the smartest girl around. She wouldn't really understand how much something she does regularly have such a big impact on you, and even if she did, is it really fair to get mad at her because of the disability?"

Artie closed his mouth and looked down. Finn put his hand on Artie's shoulder as the words sank in. "I feel you man, it's just that after you joining Glee and now the football team, you know you're better than letting your condition control you."

Artie still couldn't say anything. If Finn Hudson could go all psychoanalysis on your ass and probe you better than you could yourself, then you know you're screwed.

* * *

"Hey Brittany!"

She turned around and saw Artie wheeling up to her. "I thought you were mad at me."

Artie looked up to her. "I wanted to talk to you about what happened the other day."

Brittany said nothing, she just kept looking at him with her head slightly tilted. Artie took that as a sign to continue. "That night-when we- we had sex together, none of it felt real to me. It was like a dream, almost like finding out I could walk again. Obviously not the same thing, but knowing that there was still that one thing that hadn't been taken away from me during the accident, it meant everything."

Brittany interrupted. "You've basically already told me that, why are-" Artie held up his hand to silence her and went on. "When I found out that you basically used me for something so insignificant, it really pissed me off because of how exponentially significant it was to me." Brittany looked down and started tracing her fingers along the spine of her textbook.

"But then I realized how much of an ass I was being." Brittany didn't look up, but she stopped her finger-tracing. "I shouldn't have expected you to realize what it meant to me, and even if you did, it was my choice to sleep with you. Sleeping with someone who doesn't make a big deal about sex was my problem, not yours. So what I'm trying to say here is that I'm sorry."

After a couple of moments of silence, Brittany said softly, "I still went to Breadstix. By myself. I worked on doing that 'Lady and the Tramp' meatball thing I was telling you about even though you weren't there."

A wave of guilt washed over Artie. "It's okay Brittany, let's go out to Breadstix tonight and you can show me then. It'll be on me."

Brittany finally met Artie's eyes and smiled. "Okay." Then she frowned. "Wait, are you really sure you want it on you? I've heard tomato sauce is really hard to get out of blue sweater vests."

Trying not to laugh, Artie replied "Don't worry about it."

* * *

Artie wasn't kidding himself. He knew that he and Brittany were only going as friends, because let's face it: a smart nerdy guy and a beautiful but clueless blonde cheerleader dating is the stuff of sitcoms. In reality, Artie wouldn't last three days in a relationship with her, however nice Brittany is despite her being a Cheerio.

But he found Brittany to be enjoyable company, and what with Kurt and his dad and Mercedes hanging out with Quinn more and more often, Artie's been in need of said company.

Besides, he's starting to think that Brittany dating him was more than getting a free meal, if her constantly looking at Santana while flirting with him were of any indication. And he could definitely connect with her on the unrequited-love front.

This could be the start of a strange but interesting friendship.

* * *

Now that she's broken up with Artie, she's noticed that Santana's being a lot nicer to her now. She's still not okay with singing a duet together, but now it's more about hand-holding and kissing on the lips than just sex. That makes Brittany feel more happy 'cause she likes Gentle Santana more than Sexy Santana. Even if Normal Santana doesn't like Gentle Santana very much.

Brittany wasn't really expecting to be friends with Artie or anything after dating him. Then again, Kurt still talks to her. She was happy though, even though she didn't really like Artie as a boyfriend, she still liked the idea of pushing him around like Finn does. She notices that Artie usually looks really happy and relaxed when he's being pushed by a friend. Like a cat being scratched behind its ears.

She's pretty sure Artie wouldn't like it if she tried to scratch behind his ears, though. But her mom always says you won't know until you try it.

* * *

Phew! Last chapter!

Sorry it's been so long guys, things've been crazy. Plus I just turned seventeen this Wednesday, so I'm also going through a pre-mature midlife crisis. You know what would make me feel better about my old age? Reviews! All kinds! Any kind! Mean kind, nice kind, polite kind, purple kind, any review is fine with me! Thank you!

- Cristina


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